Training the Mind Like a Muscle: Building Mental Reps in Weightlifting
When athletes think about training, they picture the squats, pulls, or snatches programmed for the day. They count barbell reps, load plates, and track PRs.
But here’s the question: how often do you count mental reps?
Your mind is a muscle too. It needs the same reps, progression, and training consistency as your body. Ignore it, and you’ll always hit limits in competition that have nothing to do with strength. Train it, and you’ll unlock performance you didn’t know you had.
Where It Started for Me
For me, the journey into mindfulness and mindset work started close to home. My father worked a high-stress job as a detective. For years, I watched him try to balance stress, separation, and the weight of the job. Over time, he leaned into mindfulness practices to find his balance. He taught me about visualizing, identifying feelings, and learning to control the things you actually can control.
I didn’t realize how much it sunk in until later in my own career.
One of the toughest competitions I’ve ever had came just two weeks after a co-worker passed away. I flew out, took the platform, and tried to bury everything I was feeling. I forced myself to suppress it all, hoping I could just push through.
I was wrong.
That experience taught me that pushing emotions down doesn’t make you stronger — it makes you disconnected. Mindfulness gave me a way to face what I was feeling, to accept it, and to still compete with presence. That shift changed how I trained, coached, and lived.
What Mental Reps Look Like in Training
Mindfulness isn’t something you pull out only when the weights get heavy. It has to be built into your training just like your technique.
For me, it looks like this:
Visualization: I picture the bar path I want, sometimes days or weeks before the session. I see the movement in my head before I step to the bar.
Reflection: After each session, I ask: did I achieve what I set out to do? How did it feel? What did I learn?
Consistency: I don’t just wait for big lifts or competition. Mental reps show up every day, the same way physical reps do.
When I reflect, I’m not asking, “Was it perfect?” I’m asking, “What did I grow from today?” That’s how progress is built — one rep at a time, physically and mentally.
An Athlete Example: Tanya’s Growth
One of the clearest transformations I’ve seen is with Tanya, one of our assistant coaches who returned to training after having her baby. Early on, her self-talk wasn’t always positive. She held herself to impossible standards.
Over time, she learned to change her perspective:
Training wasn’t about perfection, it was about progress.
Supporting herself meant celebrating achievements, not ignoring them.
Visualization and positive self-talk became daily habits, not occasional add-ons.
Today, Tanya is training full-time again, and her mindset is a big part of why she’s thriving. Her story is a reminder: the way you talk to yourself matters as much as the weight on the bar.
The Biggest Mistake Athletes Make
The number one mistake I see with mindfulness or self-talk?
👉 Only trying it on competition day.
That’s like wearing brand new shoes on meet day or eating something you’ve never had before. It’s unfamiliar, it feels awkward, and it almost always backfires.
Mindset has to be trained long before the platform. Visualization, breathing, journaling, and positive self-talk should be as routine as warming up.
Start With One Simple Drill
If you’re new to this, don’t overcomplicate it. Start by journaling after your sessions.
Ask yourself:
How did I feel today?
What did I do well?
What can I work on?
Over time, these reflections reveal patterns and trends. They help you connect how training, life stress, and emotions overlap. They build awareness — and awareness builds control.
Final Thought: Reps Are Reps
Your brain learns the same way your muscles do: through repetition.
If you want to be calm, focused, and confident under pressure, you can’t wait until the lights are on and the announcer calls your name. You have to train those mental reps every single day.
Because the bar will always be heavy — but if your mind is strong, you’ll know you can carry it.
The Weight Behind It - Speaker Series
Want to take this deeper? Join us for The Weight Behind It: A Mindfulness Speaker Series, where athletes, coaches, and mental health professionals will break down the mental side of training and competition.
👉 Sign Up Here: https://www.tri-statetraining.com/mindful-speaker-series
